Heavy Metal & Hard Rock thread

[kpic]

Reading the 'Old People thread' and the posts by Stryker & Dark Horse got me thinking that we need an official Heavy Metal thread (we can also add in 'Hard Rock' in here as there may be some crossing-over) - Depending on your age, I suppose some Punk cross-over would apply and though it's not really my thing, the Metal variations like Death\Black Metal and Glam if you like...

My introduction to Heavy Metal was through my older sister who took me to my first concert at some point around 1976 (Alice Cooper), I have no memory of the actual music other than being on peoples shoulders so I could watch (I would have been about 8) but I definitely remember the 'show'!

I got more into the music by 1982\1983 when I discovered Manowar, Judas Priest & Iron Maiden, thinking back I suppose that year (1982-1983) was a huge push for Metal with pivotal albums (yes I had the albums) by those bands, throw in Venom that had some wild Punk-Metal cross-over thing happening called 'Black Metal' and some 'new' sound from a band called Metallica.

Thanks to my sister and her friends I had a wide exposure to concert going, later on I had friends more around my age and more importantly driving age so we were able to hit numerous concerts.

I suppose it was helpful that we were in the central NJ area with so many venues around us...

We had NYC for a long haul if needed; L'Amour, Ritz\Studio54 & MSG (I went to CBGB but not for a concert), but Philly & NJ was our main-stay.

In Philly you had the Spectrum for the big shows, the Tower Theater for the mid-range shows\bands and then clubs like The Empire, Theater of the Living Arts (TLA) on South Street (still open!) and some others that I can't recall.

In NJ it was all clubs; the Satellite club was near us so that was our regular spot, City Gardens was in Trenton so not too far away, it was mostly a Punk club but had Metal there at times as well and though at that time there was a clear spilt from Punk to Metal music I had friends in both camps so I didn't care who I went with and who we saw (though oddly the only real Punk band I can recall seeing live was the Cro-Mags) I can't remember any of the others. The thing about City Gardens is that it was smack deep in an African-American neighborhood, the Metal crowd was a bit more subdued but when going with the Punk crowd, they were definitely more confrontational and I can remember several big fights in the parking lot with the locals, after it was over everyone would just go back to what they were doing and we'd head into the club! Oh yeah there was a club in Asbury Park as well but I can't remember what it was called.

Thinking back when I thought about writing this I went through my head thinking about the shows I've seen and yeah, it's a lot but here are some of my favorite memories;

These would be in no particular order but I suppose these first three are my favorite bands given I've seen them most often;

#1 is Manowar - I saw them for the Fighting the World tour, twice for the Kings of Metal tour and twice for the Triumph of Steel tour, but my best memory is during the KOM tour and in Philly (I think it was the Empire club), me and my friends got there early and on the billboard was 'Man-O-War', we saw a guy outside and told him about how it should just be one word and he thanks us and tells us the band is inside rehearsing why don't you just go in early and hang a bit - didn't have to tell us again - we head in and sure enough they are up on stage rehearsing and just some people milling around, afterwards it was very casual and so we went up and talked to Scott & Ross, they were way cool! Joey and Eric were doing their own thing so I never got to meet them but I was a member of their fan-club and on night Joey and Eric called me out of the blue just to say 'hey' and we talked for about 15 minutes, I told them about that story, they thought it was funny but they said they were more interested if I had any pictures of my girlfriend naked that I could mail them. So that connection there will always keep them #1 to me - As far as them being the 'loudest band in the world', yeah they definitely were in my book, I mean we're talking about 2-3 days after the concerts of just hearing a low hum. Now days when my wife when she tells me that my hearing is going bad, I just remind her how many Metal shows I've been to and five of those were Manowar, so yeah, of course it's bad!

#2 is Iron Maiden - Hearing Number of the Beast & Piece of Mind albums back to back (1982\1983), I mean they were just on another level! I saw them first for Piece of Mind tour, then again for Powerslave (this tour became the Live After Death album), Somewhere in Time, No Prayer for Dying and then there were a few co-headlining tours. These were all at the Spectum as expected for a band of their stature except for the last time I saw them in 2005 (maybe 2006?) was in Camden NJ at the Camden Waterfront.

#3 is Judas Priest - British Steel\POE was ok to me (I didn't like any of their earlier rock stuff) but Screaming for Vengeance was like a hit to the head! I wasn't able to see them on that tour but I did see them for Defenders of the Faith, Turbo (and yes I absolutely loved this album I don't care what anyone said at the time), Ram it Down & Painkiller twice + a later tour they were co-headlining with Alice Cooper. As with Maiden these were all at the Spectrum\NYC (MSG) as expected of a band their stature.

The rest of the bands I've seen & enjoyed (there are some I like and I am probably forgetting a lot I saw and not mentioning as I wasn't really there to see them but they were 'there')

Helloween, Armored Saint, Megadeth, Doro, WASP, Metal Church, King Diamond, The Mentors (uh, absolutely hilarious and totally offensive!), oh yeah GWAR too, though I remember more of the show than of the music

Motorhead - Oddly I likely have seen them a lot as they opened for a lot of the bands I listed.

Metallica - I saw them open - yes open - for Raven on the "Kill Em' All for One" tour in 1983 (I was there to see Raven LOL!) but yeah Metallica were noticeably on another level. Never saw them live again (though I did end up seeing Raven again as an opener at a later concert!), I liked RTL and MOP a lot but the next one (And Justice??) I thought lost a lot of the sound I liked on the earlier stuff.

Slayer - Saw them a few times as opener\mid-cards and though I can't say it's really my taste, I do like a few early songs, I will say the crowd was wild for them and they shred for sure!

Venom - I liked their raw cross-over sound (though probably the least talented group on this list) they were outstanding live though, saw them twice in NYC (the Ritz\Studio 54) and once again later in 1990 in Philly with the revamped band line-up.

Hellion - Regrettably I only saw them once, I suppose as they were more an LA band - but my goodness, not only did I like them musically but Ann Boleyn was a total smoke-show, I'll never forget being right up against the stage looking up at her the whole time as she's singing, that's literally the only thing I remember about that night, I was completely ga-ga over her.

A couple I never saw but really wished I had; Exciter (sad, sad face on this one, though shockingly they still tour occasionally so who knows) & Accept\UDO!

[alpha_omega]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Speaking of Whitesnake...

Reb Beach
Joel Hoekstra
Bernie Marsden
John Sykes
Adrian Vandenberg
Vivian Campbell
Steve Vai
Warren DeMartini
Doug Aldrich

All of those guitarists were in Whitesnake at some point over the life of the band.

That is quite the list. I've always enjoyed Whitesnake.

[htismaqe]

Big fan of both Red Fang and Uncle Acid. I'm digging back too, firing up some Witchfinder General today.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by alpha_omega

That is quite the list. I've always enjoyed Whitesnake.

The lists of bass players and drummers are equally impressive. If there's one thing Coverdale knew, it was how to surround himself with exceptional musicians.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Big fan of both Red Fang and Uncle Acid. I'm digging back too, firing up some Witchfinder General today.

Electric Citizen is pretty bad ass too. I'd put them right up there.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Electric Citizen is pretty bad ass too. I'd put them right up there.

I used to be into Electric Wizard but man they veered off into the deep end. They're more smack than stoner...

[htismaqe]

I hadn't heard Electric Citizen before but that tune is pretty killer...

[PunkinDrublic]

You mentioned City Gardens, fun fact Jon Stewart used to bartend there back in the day when he was a struggling comedian. I actually read an interview where he talked about his time there.

[InChiefsHeaven]

Wore this tape OUT crusing Dodge street in the late 80's...



Thundah mutha fuggahh!!

[Buddy Rich]

Originally Posted by InChiefsHeaven

Wore this tape OUT crusing Dodge street in the late 80's...



Thundah mutha fuggahh!!

Me too (in DC, though)

[KCUnited]

Often overlooked legend Roky Erickson



The Entombed cover

[KCUnited]

Stoner/Doom fans with an adversion to gruff vocals, or any vocals at all, should check out Bongripper from Chicago.

All these dudes work like regular IT jobs, and self record, produce and tour (throughout the world) on their own dime. They refuse to sign with a label to keep it their own despite labels lining up to sign them.

The Bongripper name is a spoof/nod to Sleep's Dopesmoker album.

EDIT: I actually have a pair of Bongripper sweatpants

[GloucesterChief]

Nanowar of Steel is the place to go for metal parodies.



One of the best newer bands is Nemophila out of Japan.



Lately I have been really getting into Vanden Plas, a prog metal outfit from Germany.

[Fishpicker]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

In order - Dio Sabbath, Dio, Ozzy, Ozzy Sabbath. I rank Ozzy Sabbath 4th because even though the early stuff is groundbreakingly heavy, the later stuff especially post SBS just isn't. The drugs moved them is weird directions and the riffs just aren't there and they really didn't appear again until Ozzy was gone.

for me - Purple Sabbath, Martin era Sabbath, Ozzy, Dio Sabbath, Oz Sabbath, Dio. But it is all pretty close.

1 - 19 in order, left to right. Forbidden is omitted because I have never listened to the album in one go.

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

Stoner/Doom fans with an adversion to gruff vocals, or any vocals at all, should check out Bongripper from Chicago.

All these dudes work like regular IT jobs, and self record, produce and tour (throughout the world) on their own dime. They refuse to sign with a label to keep it their own despite labels lining up to sign them.

The Bongripper name is a spoof/nod to Sleep's Dopesmoker album.

EDIT: I actually have a pair of Bongripper sweatpants

Draconian is an amazing mix of beautifully haunting clean vocals and brutal vocals.

[AdolfOliverBush]